


detsiwT

by bozanga



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2003), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Alternate Universe - Human, And yet everything at the same time, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Blood and Gore, Chapters will come randomly, Cody is the son of casey and april now, Dark Turtles - Freeform, Dysfunctional Family, Dysfunctional Relationships, Freeform, Gen, I Don't Even Know, I mean, I'm Sorry, MY BABIES, Murder, Other, Slow Build, Slow To Update, Tags and characters list will grow with time, The Author Regrets Everything, The Author Regrets Nothing, The dark turtles are serial killers, Twisted and Fluffy Feelings, Violence, What Have I Done, Why Did I Write This?, at least I think so, because of growing up in a basement, being darius's slaves, but also really naive and child like too, fuck darius, he's a monster, i made sure not to confuse them with our regular children, oofx100, some psychopathic and sociopathic behaviors, their names are tel/ray/lenn/angelo, theyre so young here too, theyre straight up demonic during some scenes, this is their redemption arc
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-02-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:40:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22095016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bozanga/pseuds/bozanga
Summary: They’ve been raised underground, living their whole lives in the darkness. They know suffering and fear, just as well as they know how to kill. But what happens when a kid finds out his Uncle’s secret in the basement? 2k3 dark turtles humanized AU. They will commit murder and do bad things, but this is their story of redemption. Not for the faint of heart.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	1. And So We Begin

**Author's Note:**

> Title: detsiwT  
> Summary: They’ve been raised underground, living their whole lives in the darkness. They know suffering and fear as well as they know how to kill. But what happens when a kid finds out his Uncle’s secret in the basement? 2k3 dark turtles humanized AU. They will commit murder and do bad things, but this is their story of redemption. Not for the faint of heart.  
> Version/s: 2k3 (Dark Turtles)  
> Author: Nukas/Omazun (FF.net, AO3)
> 
> Technicalities Gutter: I don’t own the TMNT franchise or any products or brand names that are used in this story. I don’t make any money for those mentioned above or myself, so my work is completely non-profit, therefore, nothing you can sue me for. Take that greedy companies! *Pew pew* *kaminari finger guns*
> 
> Notes: I wanted to give them “original” names because I feel like calling them by the full renaissance names was just too confusing, especially since all I’d see in my mind while writing this is our original TMNT brothers. Nah, this is all dark turtle love here fam. Pure freeform, no cloning or anything actually involved here. These are literally just the dark turtles humanized and their lives. This will get dark and turn into something border lining the horror genre, so if you’re a soft boi or gal, maybe look away and don’t read this fanfiction. Don’t worry your pure little hearts about this angsty crap and go cuddle up in a blanket and read some fluff fiction. 
> 
> Warnings: The dark turtles will do some scary shit here and they all have some type of mental issue. They will commit many murders and do bad things (don’t worry, over time they’ll change, albeit a bit slowly), and from very young ages. Please, please, do not take this work seriously and attempt to do anything written here. It’s not okay and it’s really not worth doing to throw your life away. The boys get away with things here, but in real life, it is nowhere near this easy. If you have a weak heart, I suggest looking at something else, please.
> 
> Other than this, there will be cursing, extreme violence, and things like mental illness and child abuse. That is all.

_ Manhattan Beach Park, 11:23 p.m.  _

Lenn, every so carefully, wiped the dark artery blood off of his smallest brother’s face with the dirty rag. Angelo was grinning madly, his eyes sparkling with pride.

“You can never do it neatly, can you, Angie?” Angelo giggled for a minute, taking the affectionate rub of the head he received from his brother. 

“Master’s gonna be pleased, huh, Nardy?” 

“ _ Very _ , in fact, I think we might even get some food tonight.” Lenn smiled, folding the rag with eased practice and using the backside of it to clean the remainder of blood from Angelo’s face. You could never be too thorough with cleaning blood, it stained the skin too easily.  _ Especially _ death blood, it was the worst to get out of clothes and such. He looked over to his other two brothers, Tel and Ray. 

“Master gunna be happy?” Ray asked loudly, taking off his hoodie with the help of Tel. It revealed his hulk-ish body that he was so proud of. Some blood had soaked through the fabric and stained his broad chest, which Tel was cleaning now with his own rag. Tel’s face was as apathetic as ever, but he did have a small glint of happiness in his eyes that only his brothers could catch.

“Yes. Now turn around, oaf.” Even though Tel was the tallest, he was also the least muscular and the thinnest. Ray, however, was right under him in height, but was easily double the size of any of his brothers. 

Ray obeyed, turning around so Tel could check his back. He was clean, so Tel began to wipe his hands off on Ray’s discarded hoodie. He didn’t like the feeling of blood caking his hands (or anywhere on his body for that matter), and hence was the neatest of his brothers. He wasn’t as much of a fan of killing their victims, as he was a fan of taking their bodies. In the young scientist’s mind, it was a reward he could keep for a successful job and their Master let him have it. However, he wished that Master would let him go out and collect a  _ live _ specimen. Now that would be  _ fun _ . Experimenting with a dead body could get boring and tedious, especially since (with his hyper-violent brothers running around) he always had to clean  _ so much blood _ off of the damn victim before he could actually cut them open and begin his dissections. It was a pain of a chore.

Angelo practically danced over to Ray, then climbed onto his big, wide shoulders. Both were bare-chested and so they didn’t need to worry about blood getting all over each other (not like either of them even noticed when they were bloody, but it made the other two fuss). 

“Ray, ya hear that?!  _ Food _ ! Oh-ho-ho, boy!” Angie’s laugh boomed throughout the alleyway. They were down by the beach areas, so nobody was really around at this time of night, but Lenn still made a point to hush him. 

“Food?” Ray was always a bit slower than the others, but honestly, they weren’t even given proper education, so the others hardly teased him for it. Tel had been the one that really studied the few books they were given, then relayed and taught what he learned to the others. Lenn was eager to learn, and Angelo really didn’t care but was able to pick up on enough of it. Ray just couldn’t understand however, but it’s not like he needed to be book smart to end someone’s life. If he needed a plan, he just made his genius brother and his leader brother put all that together. He did the muscle work, so they could do that.

“Food, buddy!” Angelo continued to laugh. Tel rolled his eyes at his idiotic siblings.

“Tello, you want to bring this one home?” Tel lazily moved his eyes over to where the man was dead on the concrete. Multiple stab wounds littered his body, and one final one was on his neck. They had to make sure the kill was confirmed because Master said this was a high priority target, and they  _ really _ wanted food. Making Master happy made their lives easier. Disobeying or failing Master…

The scars that covered all of their bodies told that story.

Tel shook his head, looking back at Lenn who had just finished cleaning one of their daggers and was placing it back in their weapons satchel. 

“Let’s just burn him with the rags. I got enough corpses. Though, maybe Master will finally let me--”

“Don’t ask him,  _ Tel _ ,” Lenn snapped at him, “don’t risk  _ food _ for a stupid fantasy.” Tel was about to snap back, a snare forming on his face, but Angelo interrupted them by flipping off his perch on Ray’s shoulder. He placed himself firmly between them, his tiny form providing him his great agility. 

“Guys, guys, gimme gloves! Gloves! It’s burning time~!” He chanted happily, his tongue hanging out his mouth like it always did when he was excited or anticipating something good. It was split in half up to the middle...a reminder of what happens when one of them pissed Master off. 

Lenn growled under his breath, now in a foul mood, and rummaged out a pair of gloves, then another. He threw them haphazardly at Angelo and Ray. They both put them on, faces nearly split in half with excitement, and each grabbed either end of the man. They lifted him effortlessly into a trash barrel that Ray had brought over minutes prior, and got the lighter from Lenn, who threw the bloody rags inside as well. Tel came over, his face still in a sour expression, and drizzled some gasoline over the man and the rags. He was half-tempted to throw some on Lenn, but stopped himself before he could. It wasn’t worth the argument with Master. Angelo, bouncing around crazily, lit one gas-covered rag in the barrel, which set everything else on fire in a matter of minutes.

They watched the fire, Ray and Angelo smirking and chatting, going over highlights from their ‘chase’. After they had cornered the businessman behind a shop in Downtown, Ray dealt a blow to the man’s head, knocking him unconscious. They had been dressed head to toe in black, only wearing a cheap Halloween mask under their hoodies. They had taken the man in with ease after that. All they had to do was get him up the fire escape before people could begin questioning the noise in the back alley, and the one or two people there that had been watching the scene simply didn’t care or were too out of it. After all, it was around 10 p.m. and nobody else besides homeless people and partiers were out and about. The man didn’t know he was being followed the minute he had closed the office and left the building, and was taking his normal walk to his car parked a couple of buildings down. That’s when they struck, got him up to the roof, did their work, and carried his lifeless body back to the beach. 

All in all, it was a successful and relatively easy job this time.

Lenn seemed to mellow out a bit, watching the fire in an almost soothing way. Tel impatiently waited until the fire burned out, then watched Ray grab the hot barrell with clean (well, cleaner than the ones they used to wipe off all the blood) rags being used as hand mittens, and followed him towards the water. 

They dumped the (for the most part) ash remains into the tide, then left to head back to their basement in victorious spirits.

Master would be pleased.

* * *

_ Darius Dun’s Basement, 1:08 a.m. _

One slept under the old, wooden stairs, the other three slept in either corner of the basement. There were four mattresses, equally as bug-ridden and waterlogged, and a hole in the back that led to the sewage pipeline for their bladder needs. A far corner dubbed Tel’s ‘lab’ and another corner that served as a storage area where they’d pile all their things sky-high. If they weren’t working at assassins for Master, than they took turns being his slaves. The pairs were Angelo and Tel, Lenn and Ray. They alternated each day that they weren’t on duty. They cleaned the mansion and garage, but they weren’t allowed outside. They weren’t allowed to be seen by anyone but Master and a few others. Not even the Master’s nephew that came around every now and again was allowed to catch a glimpse of them. The four boys were owned by Darius Dun.

“What do you think it’ll be? Oh,  _ please _ let it be the leftovers of that ham he and the brat had! Those looked fantastic!”

“Angelo, would you tone it down a bit? Don’t get your hopes high,” Lenn’s face was stern as he practiced his movements with his blade. He had a special dagger that he loved, it was the only dagger that no one else could use. He loved the way it’s rigged pattern was on both sides of the blade, making it the most lethal knife they were given. 

The others had their fun toys; Ray kept a pair of brass knuckles that would send him into a rage if anyone touched them, Tel overkilled the word ‘protective’ when it came to his techno-spear, and Angelo loved his two butterfly knives that he twirled and spun around as both of their hilts were connected by a metal chain. They would fight over food, the most comfortable spot in their basement, who got to use their hole first, and anything else, but it was an unspoken agreement that one did not fuck with the others’ weapons. 

“No food?” Ray grunted out slowly, his disappointment palpable through the bunker they called home. He was sitting on the dirty, thin mattress that was on the cold concrete floor. He had his makeshift dumbbells sitting next to him, which he had put down in order to talk to his brothers. Each “dumbbell” was basically a metal pole that Tel had screwed either end in to a large, stuck together, block of bricks. 

“There  _ has  _ to be food! We haven’t eaten in days! We’re gon’ die of not eating before we get a next mission!” Angelo whined. He was playing with a race car and a deformed-looking Barbie doll that he kept hidden under his mattress. If Master noticed his toys like last time, he’d hurt him again. Angelo didn’t want to be punished again.

Lenn adjusted his eye patch,  _ another _ example of “punishment” for them, and looked over at Tel. He was in a far corner of the basement they were given to call ‘home’, which was deemed his lab. There, Tel could experiment and play with all the technology and corpses he wanted, but unlike Angelo, he didn’t have to hide it. Master was aware of it, and allowed it (Tel would even go as far as to say that Master  _ supported _ it as he funded his work) as long as he supplied them with equipment so that Master didn’t have to buy it himself. Whatever money or parts Tel needed to make a gadget for a mission, he could get from Master, as long as the blueprints were cleared and checked by him first. 

The other 13-year-olds didn’t respond to Angelo’s justification for why he was so certain they’d get food. Angelo took it the wrong way, as if the silence was because he was right and they were wrong to be doubtful. However, Tel and Lenn both knew they were silent because they weren’t so sure, but decided to let Angelo keep his false hope. If he wanted to be a fool, they wouldn’t get in his way.

Angelo continued to make childish noises as he zoomed his car around on the floor, every once in a while pulling back a strand of curly, light brown hair that would fall into his face. He really needed to ask Ray to chop some of his hair off for him again, as it was now coming to his shoulders. It was uneven, but it made Ray unremarkably happy to style and cut Angelo’s hair, playing pretend that he was a...what was the word that Tel told him? It was the guy that Ray saw cutting that woman’s hair in that shop in Brooklyn, the shop with the spinning white pole that had red and blue ribbons going around it...he thinks Tel said that man was a ‘barber’? Well, anyways, it made Ray happen to play pretend that he was one. Even if his cuts came out bad like Tel would always tell him, Angelo liked them. Tel was just one big jerk, that’s what Angelo told him with big, unnaturally bright amber eyes (which looked yellow from a distance) that shone with admiration for Ray’s handy work. 

A single amber eye that could only belong to the dark brown-haired leader followed a swerving blade. He was quick with his movements, fluid in his wrist motions. He kept his feet moving as he practiced his stabs and counterattacks, making sure to keep his stance strong and his arm movements clean. He couldn’t afford to be sloppy. 

Tel stood from his smoke bomb making, something he did habitually when he was bored or nervous and needed something to do, and tucked a tuft of light, almost grey brown hair behind his ear. His hair was short, since he cut it himself. He didn’t trust Ray, even when his eyesight was the worst of the group and he needed glasses he couldn’t have, he’d rather cut it himself. That’s how bad of a barber Ray was. His dark amber eyes lazily drifted over to the smallest of them and he drifted over. He knelt on the floor behind his brother’s petite frame and pulled his curly hair into a ponytail, sealing it’s style with a rubber band he found while cleaning the Master’s house with Angelo, presumably left by another one of his lady friends.

Ray’s eyes, the darkest color of amber out of the four, narrowed at Tel. Only  _ he _ got to do Angelo’s hair! No one else. He let out a low growl, now straight up glaring at his smartest brother.

Tel stood up and shot a glare at Ray, strolling right past him like he was daring him to do something about it. Ray was more than ready to-

The door. The door was unlocking. Angelo, who was sitting criss-crossed on the floor, rolled back, pulled his legs over his head and popped up like an acrobatic clown, racing to his mattress to shove his toys under it. Tel and Ray forgot their minuscule squabble in favor of lining up besides Lenn at the door like they were expected to. Angelo let out a yelp when he scampered into position, just as the door opened. The order of the line, like how Master wanted it, went from tallest to shortest. 

“Well, well,” The large man’s voice bellowed down the creaking stairs as he came down, “you four creatures managed to take down one of my most annoying debt collectors, well done.” All derogatory taunts and slurs weren’t even blows anymore as they were used to it. The praise however? That had all of them fighting smiles and sighs of relief. Master didn’t like them expressing good feelings.

“Your prize.” Was all he said as he placed the cans on the floor in front of them. 

Lenn was thankful it was dog food. As happy as he would’ve been with human food, dog food was better. If he gave them dog food, he gave them enough for all of them; eight cans. Meaning, they could all have one and then save the other four for another day and have another group meal. If it was human food, they’d be lucky enough for even one of them to have a full belly, meaning they’d start fighting for it like rabid animals.

“You’re on cleaning duty tomorrow.” Was all he said as he went back up the stairs and locked them in once again. In the dull lighting (a single bulb that hung from the staircase was expected to light up their entire basement), Angelo was the first to get low and inspect the cans. He squinted at it, but couldn’t read too well. 

“Telly?” Tel sighed at the childish nickname from when they were much smaller. He got down on Angelo’s level and picked up a can.

“It’s chicken and rice flavored,” he sighed, barely being able to read it, not because he couldn’t read but because of his vision problems, “better than the plain ones from last month, I guess.”

“Ugh, those were even nastier than the spoiled pizza he threw down here a while back!” Angelo grimaced at the memory of it, then beamed when he looked back down at the dog food.

“Food!” Ray’s gruff tone was elated with joy, but before he could reach for a can, Lenn grabbed his arm. This made Ray mad, but before he could swing his up-and-coming fist at his brother, Angelo grabbed it.

“Hey, big guy, c’mon! We got  _ food _ , and enough for everyone! No need to hit! Telly, can we have our cans?” 

“Wait for Lenn to open it.” He mumbled, throwing a can at Lenn, who caught it effortlessly. He took a random, non-specific knife from their satchel and cut off the lids of each can Tel tossed at him, passing the newly opened one to a brother until he got his. They ate in relative silence, which was rare for them, each savoring their food. Ray made a loud noise of anger when he put his large hand to the bottom of the can, only to find it was empty. He licked his mutilated fingers for the last bits of tasty gravy, then threw the can down in anger. Angelo side-eyed his brother, still eating some of his dog food. Growing up, they hardly shared. If they did, it was for their own benefit or gain, but for some reason, Angelo felt his heart pang. It was a new and confusing feeling, and, without understanding that he was moving until it was too late, went to sit next to his larger brother. He took one last scoop from the can, then held the remains out to Ray, a silent offering.

Ray’s eyes widened, but he didn’t say anything. He just took the can and began to eat again, chewing the slightest bit slower. 

Tel and Lenn watched in momentary shock. No one shared food.

Angelo caught Lenn’s eye and looked away, almost ashamed of his actions. Now everyone would see him as a pushover, weak. They’d probably start bullying him for food again, like they did when they were younger, just because he was the tiniest. The runt.

“Here.” Lenn was by Angelo’s side in an instant, offering a tin lid that had some of the mush piled on it like a makeshift plate. Angelo beamed, and took it, eating too. The three sat together comfortably, which was even rarer than silence, and ate. 

Tel scoffed silently. He wasn’t a fool like them. He wasn’t going to be an idiot and share his only nutrients with  _ them _ . He needed them to do the jobs Master assigned them properly, so he’d help them from time to time, but he wasn’t going to put himself in any discomfort to do so. They were nothing but tools for him, as they should be.

He couldn’t help but question his life-long logic only slightly when he saw Angelo and Ray playing toys together on the floor happily, Lenn sharpening his beloved dagger with a slight smile on his face.


	2. The Run In With The Jones' Kid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: detsiwT  
> Summary: They’ve been raised underground, living their whole lives in the darkness. They know suffering and fear as well as they know how to kill. But what happens when a kid finds out his Uncle’s secret in the basement? 2k3 dark turtles humanized AU. They will commit murder and do bad things, but this is their story of redemption. Not for the faint of heart.  
> Version/s: 2k3 (Dark Turtles)  
> Author: Nukas/Omazun (FF.net, AO3)
> 
> Notes: The names Henrik and David were names Tel randomly choose from his memory after reading a book about the Danish physicist Niels Henrik David Bohr. He saw it in that big library :P our nerdy dark turtle couldn’t resist. Also, a mildly shorter update. I might update in bursts, go completely radio silent, and then update in bursts again (that’s typically how my schedule goes, unfortunately), so maybe expect 2-3 more updates in the next month or two, some silence, and then more. Just a heads up for the future :) enjoy

_Dun Estate, 2:07 p.m._

"Angelo, you take the first and second floor."

"But I wanna do the fourth!"

"After last time? No. I'm not cleaning up your messes when you play on the stair and balcony railings. Or getting punished for it," He added, seeing that his smallest brother was getting ready to say something in defense.

He didn't give him a chance to think of a proper rebuttal, shoving the mop into his hands and grabbing his own. He already had his mopping cart and other cleaning supplies in the elevator waiting for him, he just met up with Angelo at the entrance of the mansion to make sure they were both on the same page.

"I promise I won't mess around this time, Telly!"

"No," Was all Tel said as his lanky frame stalked away from his tiny brother. He heard him groaning and complaining but didn't bat an eyelash.

Angelo watched as his brother stepped inside the elevator, despite the need for a key to use it. He had picked the lock as he normally did when he took the third and fourth floors, leaving Angelo to do the bottom ones. They were the most _boring_ floors. The other floors held bedrooms and secret treasuries and stuff. There was a giant library with a _fireplace_ on the third floor that Angelo _knew_ Tel spent his leftover time in before they had to duck into the basement again before Master came home from his business meeting. This was because he usually brought these _really_ pretty ladies home on either arm and they, naturally, weren't allowed to be seen. In fact, Master was _extremely_ strict with this protocol. To the point where they had tracking microchips inserted into their necks.

Angelo took his mop and swung it over his shoulder, letting it rest there. He'd start with all the easier, normally cleaner rooms and work his way up to the dirtier ones, then go to the second floor.

* * *

_Dun Estate, 4:33 p.m. _

He began rolling his janitorial dolley into the kitchen, knowing that was the place with the dirtiest floor. The daily maid that could be seen by others besides Darius was a great personal chef for Darius, but she was messy, and the brothers knew that well. He sat the bucket of soap and water on the tile, then dunked his mop in it. He took it out and began wiping the water and soap mixture around, getting particularly rough with the mop on some tough grease patches. He groaned, realizing a certain spot by the stove was going to need hand-scrubbing to get out. He leaned the mop against the counter, snagged a rag from the dolley, then got on his knees and began going at the stain. It was viciously melted into the floor.

' _Okay then, Mr. Grease Stain, if this is how ya wanna do things!'_ Angelo gave a mighty war cry, scrubbing with even more vigor than before. The stain was relentless in its attachment to the fancy, white tiles. He began getting more and more frustrated, and was so unforgiving in his attacks against the stain, that he didn't realize someone else had entered the room.

"H-hello? Uncle never told me he had a boy maid...what's _your_ name?" Angelo forgot all about his stain. His breath hitched and he froze, hunched over in his position on the floor. They were supposed to be _good_ at hiding in split seconds, always alert for anyone entering the mansion, in case someone managed to get past Dun Estate's top of the line security systems. They weren't allowed to be _seen_ , and here he was, getting caught up in conversation with the Master's _nephew_.

He slowly turned around, taking in the kid who was not much younger nor shorter than him. He was skinny and had red hair. His eyes were a dark but bright green that trapped Angelo for a moment. Angelo's mouth opened a bit, revealing his tongue.

"Oh my god! What happened to your tongue?! It's split…" His eyes shined with curiosity and sympathy, "oh, wait was that mean? I'm sorry! Let's start over? My name's Cody, what's yours?" Angelo was still frozen. The kid looked maybe about 10 or 11 years old, only 2 or 3 years younger than him.

"His name's Henrik. Mine is David; we're just replacement housekeepers. The ones M-your Uncle had scheduled couldn't make it." Tel's smooth lie went right over Angelo's head. He jumped when Tel, who rarely ever gave _anyone_ any physical contact, scooped his arm under Angelo's and lifted him off the floor.

"Huh?" He asked weakly, tilting his head slightly. Tel scowled a little, before turning a deceivingly friendly smile back towards the boy.

"He's a bit _dull_ sometimes, you have to excuse him. _Henrik_ , take the cart and go do the third and fourth floors? I'll handle down here."

"But-"

" _Thank you._ " He smiled through clenched teeth. Angelo finally got the hint and began pushing his dolley away, forgetting his mop and rag in the kitchen.

"Uh, David, right? Is my Uncle here?"

"No, he's out on business." Tel felt the goosebumps spreading all over his being. He had never seen anyone that wasn't a bystander, a victim, or both, that wasn't Master or his brothers. The kid was scaring him because if he accidentally babbled to their Master, his _Uncle_ , that he had a conversation with _two male maids_...

Tel had to think of a way to get rid of the kid, _Cody_ , fast. He had to make it casual and reasonable.

"Since your Uncle won't be back until late, you might want to just come back tomorrow." Tel never believed in faith; things happened because they did. If something great happened, it wasn't because something _helped_ you or anything, or that you prayed hard enough, it was a series of events that lead to it. In Tel's mind, you got whatever came at you.

But here he was, hoping as hard as he possibly could that his words were enough to convince the child to just _go the fuck away_.

"No, it's fine. I'll just go up to my room and wait for him to come back. If he's tired or something, I'll just stay the night. It's...family stuff." Tel couldn't help the nasty glare that he shot at the boy, who was now awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.

"So, uh, see ya."

Tel could feel himself deflate as soon as he heard the child's footsteps going up the impressively large wooden stairs.

"He's _staying_? But, then how will we finish?!" Angelo's panicked voice could be heard from the door, maybe a minute or so after the child's footsteps had left hearing distance.

"We won't be able to. It's too risky now, especially if he starts sparking up more conversations or we do something we aren't supposed to in front of him. We just have to take the punishment for not doing a good job today and wait to see if he'll know - if he'll _punish us_ \- for being seen. I hope you put your cleaning supplies _away_ and didn't actually leave it on the fourth floor."

Tel's monotone voice met Angelo's sheepish, " _Well…._ " and he sighed.

He picked the lock on the elevator, letting himself and Angelo in, and took them to the fourth floor. His cleaning supplies were still up there because he had simply been planning on checking on Angelo's progress two hours in. He nearly scampered back up the stairs when he heard a foreign voice talking to his smallest brother. Any other time? Tel would've done just that. Left Angelo to deal with the situation so that if Master found out, he wouldn't even be mentioned, let alone involved, saving himself from the prospect of punishment.

However, since last night's new... _kindness_ , he felt something odd and _different_ creep into his heart. He had to help Angelo, especially when he noticed the lack of responses coming from him. He was obviously afraid and didn't know how to react.

Tel _had_ to help. And that feeling entirely was something Tel had never experienced.

He watched his brother out of the corner of his eye closely, waiting for the _ding_ of the elevator.

The two collected their dollies, returned to the elevator, and made their way back down to the first floor. They put their cleaning supplies away in a dark and dusty closet under the staircase and crept as stealthily as they could back to their basement hatch, trying to make sure that _Cody_ didn't see them. That would surely provoke some questions.

They opened the hatch and, as expected, saw Lenn and Ray lined up as if they thought Master was making a surprise visit like he sometimes did. They relaxed visibly when they saw their other two brothers, then tensed up just as quickly.

"What did you two do?" Lenn was the first to speak up, eyeing them as they closed the hatch behind themselves and came down the stairs.

"Nothing," Tel replied tersely.

"Someone saw us," Angelo squeaked out, his frame shrinking in on itself when Tel gave him the stink eye and Lenn's eyes narrowed on him. Ray's eyes widened and he looked about as close as Angelo was to going into full-blown panic, "it was Master's nephew!"

"While ' _Cody_ ' saw both of us, he only caught _Angelo_. I came to hel- stop him from blowing our cover," Tel spoke swiftly. He went over to his lab area and began tinkering with a gadget or two out of unspoken worry.

Angelo, on the other hand, was going a hundred words per minute and didn't seem to be slowing down. Lenn grabbed his shoulders and spoke sternly, "Stop."

That was all it took to make Angelo do just that.

* * *

_The Basement, 9:51 p.m._

Angelo was biting his already near non-existent nails, Tel was getting more and more angry with some dumb configuration he was making on his tech-spear.

Lenn and Ray just went about their business, trying not to get in the way of either brother. Both were on the edge of exploding with fear.

They heard the ever-terrifying unlocking of the hatch, lined up, and braced themselves.

"You and you," Master pointed two accusing fingers at Tel and Angelo, his face expressionless like always, "step forward."

All four of them collectively shared a gulp. Tel kept his face almost as perfectly emotionless as his Master, while Angelo tried but failed to keep his fear at bay.

Master reached into the deep pocket of his trench coat and out he pulled a neatly wrapped whip, laden with spiraling barbed wire. Tel bit the inside of his cheek as Angelo's eyes went wide.

He began uncoiling it, Ray and Lenn knowing better than to turn their heads away. Last time one of them did that, Master turned the punishment on them.

He moved to stand directly in front of Angelo, winding his arm back. Angelo looked down at his feet, bracing himself for impact.

The whip came down harshly, the sound of it cutting through the air and hitting flesh were more than enough sensory details for the other brothers. Angelo bit his lip, but when Master starting coming down harder, he let some weak cries out. He went on for about ten minutes, when one arm got tired, he switched to another. He didn't show any signs of stopping by the ten-minute mark, even though Angelo was now crumbled on the bloody floor, and what a gruesome sight he was.

Finally, Ray couldn't do it. He looked away and a small sound came out of his mouth. Out of all of them, he was the most sensitive in terms of Angelo. The two were close, despite how they were raised and all, and Lenn and Tel would be lying if they said those two didn't care about each other or their brotherhood as a whole. Because they cared so much about their brotherhood, those two got along the most.

"You want a whipping too, you monster? Fine, step forward, your turn will come too." Master spoke up loudly, still having fun with Angelo. Ray shakingly stepped forward, spurring some courage in Lenn. He took a step forward, standing right beside Ray as he was third tallest. Master paused his whipping for a moment, an almost insane grin bloomed across his face.

"I see. All of you freaks want a turn. I'll be more than happy to discipline all of you filthy vermin!" He shouted, swinging the whip horizontally. It hit all of them a bit, leaving some blood to fly onto the wall.

Tel looked over to his right, where two of his brothers stood and the other was a crippled mess on the ground, bleeding from so many places that Tel couldn't even begin to think about how he'd patch that up. He watched Master move down the line, taking a good six minutes or so with Ray, then taking about four minutes with Lenn, and finally reaching him.

Tel, taking the courage from his _idiotic_ brothers, looked his Master in the eye. Master seemed to see the bold look in his amber eyes, noticed the way his face neutralized, how his body suddenly wasn't shaking anymore. Anger sparked in his Master then, seeing the defiance beginning to root itself, and he let loose.

Tel was beginning to see the mindset Angelo and Ray had started building in Lenn.

* * *

_The Basement, 12:45 a.m._

"I'm... _sorry_ , there's no more I can do for it. You'll just have to endure the pain, Ray." Tel tended to be a _tad_ gentler to Ray, even before this new side of him began to emerge. He never understood why and the 'sorry' he muttered weakly was proof, as he had never apologized to anyone before, at least, not that he could remember and excluding Master obviously.

"S'fine," Ray grumbled, the pain making him a bit grumpier than usual.

"Brothers?" A word used so commonly by them that hardly meant anything at all before that night. Angelo's voice was small and weak, he had received the worst of it all. He was laying on his mattress, blood soaking every bandage that covered him. About 60-80% of his body was covered in white bandages and gauze.

"Hmm?" Lenn was scrubbing blood off the walls and floor. He had it the best, in terms of injuries.

"You were all okay with being punished if it meant you'se was standing next to me...thanks…" He slurred, the blood loss getting to him. Lenn stopped scrubbing and Tel stopped tending to his own injuries for a moment. Ray looked up from the toy car Angelo let him play with and was the first to give Angelo a nod in response. Lenn grunted quietly, then did the same. Almost as if he was frustrated at the fact that it all happened in the first place.

Tel nodded as well, none of them being good with words, especially with words like _these_. These were _emotional_ words, words they technically weren't allowed to - _supposed to_ \- use with one another. Tel couldn't comprehend the bubbly feeling bursting in his chest, neither could the other three, but they all knew it felt _amazing_.

They all felt it then, in the basement that made up their _entire world_. They felt comradery, they felt brotherhood; they felt _love_ , for the first time.

And, wordlessly, they made a _real_ brotherhood. Brother meant _brother_ , not slave-partner in crime. They were _brothers_ now.


	3. Debt Collection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: detsiwT  
> Summary: They've been raised underground, living their whole lives in the darkness. They know suffering and fear as well as they know how to kill. But what happens when a kid finds out his Uncle's secret in the basement? 2k3 dark turtles humanized AU. They will commit murder and do bad things, but this is their story of redemption. Not for the faint of heart.  
> Version/s: 2k3 (Dark Turtles)  
> Author: Nukas/bozanga (Omazun formerly)
> 
> Notes: The last two chapters were meant to explain how the brothers began getting close, as they're not nearly as fluffy and hurt/comfort as the original turtles. This chapter is present day, where they're all 15 years old and Cody is 13, but he won't get to know the guys for a bit (maybe about 2 or 3 chapters more).

_Harlem, New York, 10:26 p.m._

"Try to remember that these people are the real deal, alright? They might seem like another group of dumbass thugs, but they're smart," Lenn's harsh voice cut across the air. He had his beloved, albeit old, trusty dagger in hand, shoulder against the door on the roof to the headquarters of the (well-hidden in plain sight) crime syndicate Master sent them after. Their job was to assassinate all of their men in that room, then leave. No more no less. Neither Lenn or Tel admitted it, but they both thought the idea of their mission was... _interesting_ to say the least. Why kill randomly? Wasn't there a target or something? All they had was a room number and the instructions to kill anyone inside that room. Lenn tightened his grip on the knob, picked by Angelo who took up learning the skill from him and Tel, and locked eyes with his brothers.

"Not smart like Tel!" Ray grinned as his confidence was spiking, especially in his brother's intelligence.

Tel waved him off, "Now is not the time to get cocky, Ray. You and Angelo, stay close. I _know_ you two like to run off and do things the crazy way, but not here."

Angelo nodded energetically, his eyes lighting up like they always did before a wild, high-stakes mission. He climbed on top of Ray's shoulders like he usually did when told to stay close, and Lenn opened the door, taking the lead in. Tel went after, Ray and Angelo taking up the rear.

They began making their way down the roof stairs, the lack of lighting not new to them at all. They easily navigated their way down until they reached the top floor of the building.

Lenn kept his hands on the railings, the rust splintering his hands not bothering him at all. He peeked around the right corner of the staircase, looking down the desolate, dimly lit hall. Then he did the same on the left side. He looked back up the staircase, where his brothers were awaiting his directions.

"Tel, where are we heading?"

"We have to go down to the third floor, then find room _322_." They were on the sixth floor currently, leaving them to sneak down two more flights of stairs. They did just that, repeating the exact process on each floor. When they finally reached the third floor, they checked the left corridor, then collectively ducked into the right one. They began walking down the halls, sticking close together in a sloppy formation.

Each door that lined the dark hallway had a small metal plaque that told them every room's purpose. Each door also had little windows on the top of them, so one could peek inside. Only one door had bits of light shining through its window, about halfway down the hall.

Lenn walked up to the door, crouching low to avoid being seen through the window. True, the masks that they had since they were small still covered all of their faces well enough, and their all-black attire that consisted of a hoodie, combat boots, and cargo pants, made it so that the cameras would never know their identity. However, they took no risks with those inside the building, or on any mission for that matter. They never knew who was expecting Master's assailants and who wasn't.

"'Financial Management - Debt Collection'," Tel read quietly, him and the others having taken Lenn's lead.

"No wonder he's giving us free will here," Tel continued, furrowing his brows, "he probably owes them and just wants to take out anyone working the debt department, but wouldn't they just hire new-hmph!" he was silenced by Lenn's hand. Angelo came down from Ray's shoulders and carefully took out his butterfly knives, just as the others got out their weapons as well. They could all hear the sounds from the other side of the door. Whoever _was_ in there, was getting ready to leave.

Lenn gritted his teeth, they had a split second before whoever was in there wrapped up their conversation with their coworkers and opened the door. He snapped his fingers quickly, effectively catching his brothers' attention, then pointed forward. He snuck underneath the door's window and stood behind the hinges. Whoever would open the door wouldn't see Lenn until it was too late.

The others got the hint and snuck across as well, just as the door opened. Angelo shot up and grabbed the door wordlessly, a grin on his face as Ray got up just as quickly to tackle down the man who had been fixing his tie. Ray took advantage of the free tool, wrapping either end of the sleek, black silk around his knuckles and then strangling the man with it. Lenn sprang into action as well, springing up from his spot and rushing inside the room before anyone else could escape. Angelo followed wordlessly, the same grin on his face as he went head first into action with his brother. Ray continued to strangle the man until he "made it so he don't move no more", as he had told Tel with a smile, hoping his brother would be proud of him.

"Good. Once you finish, bring him inside the room and shut the door. Block it so no one can escape and make it quick, understand?" Tel's cold voice was soft the entire time as he came out from behind the door finally. He stepped around where Ray's large form was strangling the life out of the man, rubbing Ray's head of short brown hair that was felt under the hoodie as he passed. This brought more vigor to Ray's work, tightening his grip on the tie and pulling it tighter.

Inside the room, Tel observed Lenn slicing some gruff-looking guy's neck, the blood squirting an impressive distance and staining someone's desk. Angelo was cornering a strong woman in the far right side of the room, behind some filing cabinets and an office printer. Angelo was laughing happily behind his mask, swirling his knives around with ease. He put a bit of effort into one arm so he could swing a blade over and into the air, so it could come bearing down on the woman. It sliced her hands pretty bad as she was trying to defend the blows, but Angelo's speed was not to be mistaken. He was small but he was incredibly fast and his agility was second to none. Eventually, one blade after another, the woman was bleeding out and close to death. Tel rolled his eyes, Angelo was always playing with his prey.

Tel looked tiredly to his left, in the corner he saw a man cowering. A real macho-guy too, but that's what Tel expected to see in the _debt collection_ department. People who tried to act real tough and badass, but were cowards when the tables flipped. The difference between him and Angelo was stark; Tel didn't play. In fact, he preferred to get things over as quickly as possible. He walked over, his tall frame towering over the scared man, and raised his techno-spear. He sent the sharp end of jagged scrap metal directly into the man's head, pushing it down as far as it would go. When he pulled out his spear, he hardly blinked an eye as the head slowly pulled apart at the seams and split in two from Tel's "incision" point. The gooey mess of brains and skull pieces hardly phased Tel as he walked over them without a care, making his move to another awaiting victim.

Ray had, at one point, came in, the dead man on the floor next to his feet. He shut the door roughly, wanting as much playtime as the others got. He slipped his brass knuckles on, smirking to himself.

Needless to say, lots of blood painted the walls and floors of room _322_.

* * *

_Dun Estate, 11:58 p.m._

After their clean up at the docks as per usual, the brothers returned back to the estate. They snuck in through a hatch hidden in the vast property, in the way back where nobody except Master tended to go. Nothing was really back there but a large shed and a garage that held all of Master's extra cars that he never really rode in, but just liked to keep. Because of their tracking chips, they couldn't ever run away, so their basement had two entry and exit points. The hatch inside the house and the hatch in the back, which is the one they used to leave the basement and return back to it when assigned a job. The only rule they really had once assigned a mission (besides obviously following instructions as given), was to leave past dark and return before sunup. Master had a certain alarm that went off on his phone any time that one of the trackers went past the perimeters of the estate and when they came back within the confines of it.

Yet, despite not having the option of running away available, Lenn couldn't help but consider it. He knew he wasn't the only one that had the idea cross his mind, but perhaps the only one that really entertained the thought as much as he did. He had a few ideas, destroy Master's phone and sneak to the garage to grab a car, maybe take each other's devices out? Or he could ask Tel and see if there was a way to deactivate them, maybe he could cook up some device that'll nullify it? Lenn let the ideas circle, but his mind always came back to the same concept; _Master_. What he would do to them if they tried...it made Lenn's mouth go dry and his mind tip a bit. Master could even snap and _kill_ one of them, which, maybe three or two years ago wouldn't be, was now unthinkable. He couldn't propose his ideas, not aloud at least. Even if they were all on board, the idea that he could get them _killed_ …

He would keep the idea secret, he decided. He continued practicing his moves with his dagger, only stopping when his footing got messed up or he needed to step back to allow room for one of the others to pass. He watched in the corner of his eye as Angelo happily chirped away with Ray, who was doing the former's hair. Ray was using a random blade of theirs to chop off Angelo's hair, in a surprisingly gentle way.

Ray's intelligence had improved in terms of reading and hand coordination. He had to sound words out, like a toddler, but he could figure out words and was always trying to improve his ability. His haircuts were slowly getting better, they were much more even now. Tel was tinkering with his small device nearby, a signal disruptor. He had been asked by Master to design a gadget that would cut out communication devices and maybe even security cameras since most of them were wireless or needed some type of channel feed to go to. He didn't ask why _now_ , after years of doing their missions without one, as expected, and started working on prototypes without any more prompting.

"Telly, do you like it?" Angelo's classic toothy smile was enough to make Ray grin too. Ray looked at Tel expectantly, wanting some more praise from his brother. Tel was known for being hard to please and getting any praise out of him was a rarity...well, maybe not so for Ray. He got more praise than Angelo and Lenn's records combined. Tel just seemed to be kinder towards Ray than anyone else. Even so, it always made Ray exceptionally happy to get any type of affection or reward from Tel, and it always put him near tears when Tel was mad or disappointed in him.

"More than last time's cut. You're improving, Ray," Tel nodded approvingly at Ray, making his grin grow wider.

"Really?"

"Really," Tel's flat expression, as never-changing as stone, moved only in the slightest. The corners of his lips twitched upwards in a teasing way, only to fall back into its normal light frown.

Ray made a small noise of contentment with himself, then went back to his dumbells and began working on his curls again. They had significantly increased in size since two years ago, and now he needed to put two dumbbells in one large hand to get something close to a proper workout.

Angelo, meanwhile, had some toys laying around. He had steadily been collecting little knick-knacks and play-things that he kept well-hidden. He dug out his favorite _Justice Force_ action figure from under his mattress and began playing with it, making noises that he imagined superheroes made. He hadn't ever watched the show or anything, so he didn't really _know_ what Silver Sentry did, he just knew he found the toy in a dumpster and had seen him on a billboard somewhere, looking _so badass_. Angelo thought of himself and his brothers as superheroes, just like Silver Sentry. They kicked ass just like Sentry did on the advertisements, so they were superheroes too! And the smile that was always on the black man's face was exactly what Angelo mimicked when Master sent them on their missions. He thought of it as one big game, where they were the good guys doing what their Master said, and all the bad guys they killed were nothing much in his head. After all, if the bad guys are _bad_ , Angelo and his brothers are doing a good thing by taking them out, right? He smiled brighter to himself as he flew Silver Sentry around, ignoring the small bits of annoyance and protest coming from his brothers as he invaded their personal spaces.

He finally stopped running around, only to clamber on top of Ray's back whilst he was sitting down on his mattress with his weights. He used the extra height to fly Sentry up even higher, making _whooshing_ noises. He giggled to himself a few times, ignoring the looks of exasperation coming from Tel and Lenn. Ray didn't even pause his lifting, used to the small weight that always seemed to be on his shoulders. Angelo got stuck in his own little world, imagining himself up high on a _really_ big building, like the Empire State! He was with his brothers and they were _free_ , able to fly wherever they wanted whenever they pleased. He could feel the wind on his face and most importantly; the _sun_. He only ever got sunlight to hit his skin when on cleaning duty, even then, the windows were covered pretty well and the estate wasn't very 'green'. It was more luxurious and industrial than anything else, so the sun wasn't exactly beaming down on him past the blinds.

"Angelo, stop it," Tel hissed, his tone dead serious for some reason. Angelo, being so immersed in his fantasy, didn't pay him much mind, simply hearing it as another little complaint.

" _Angie_ ," Lenn's nickname for him finally got through, " _hide your toy, now_."

By then it was too late. The hatch was opening and Angelo was barely getting off Ray's back, allowing the largest brother to get into line beside the others. Angelo could barely sprint to his mattress to lift it up and throw his toy underneath it when Darius had reached the bottom of the stairs. Angelo did everything he could, _really_ , but when he got into the line, his Master was already standing there. Angelo went to open his mouth but remembered the golden rule of not speaking unless spoken to. Darius stood there for a moment, just watching the four boys in line. They slowly grew nervous, especially Angelo, but none of them let it show.

"Runt," he pointed a disgusted finger at Angelo after four minutes of tense silence, "up the stairs."

' _No…_ '

Angelo could sense his brothers beside him getting ready to either defend him or comfort him. His eyes began to water, so he kept his head down. He was starting to regret that haircut; if he still had his shaggy mop of hair, he could at least attempt to hide his terror.

"And don't any of you slaves even think about being ' _brave_ '," he said the word with such a mocking, venomous tone that it made all the boys flinch, "or you'll get an even worse punishment than this freak of nature." None of the other boys made a move at that. When Lenn went up those stairs at Master's _pissed off_ command, he came back down with only one eye two days after he had left the basement. Angelo went up those stairs a couple of years ago, only to come back down in tears and hyperventilating from the pain because his _goddamn tongue_ was split in two. The last time Ray could remember going up there, he came back with broken ribs and a broken arm that both took forever to heal, not like Master really cared enough to give the injuries a fair chance to. And Tel had gone up there and received near-lethal shock treatment for something he couldn't even remember because that's how long it had been since he had been the unlucky one who fucked up _bad_.

Due to these memories coming into play, the others didn't make a move to help their smallest. Angelo pleaded, stammering and begging for a chance to fix _whatever the hell_ he'd done wrong, but their Master would have none of it. Angelo didn't understand! It wasn't because of how long it took him to line up, right? No, no _way_. Master normally just starved them all an extra week or so for that. What did he _do_ that was so bad that got him sent to the shed?

"M-master, please, I d-dunno-"

"Did I tell you that you could speak?"

"B-but, Master, _please_ -"

" _Did I tell you, that you could speak_?" The normally dead cold look in Master's eyes alit with pure rage then. Angelo stumbled back a few steps, but Master reached his hand into the ever-deep pocket of his trench coat, the one he always wore down in the basement and took out a condensed pole with a special handle on one end. He straightened it out to its full length, then pressed a button on the handle part that caused it to spark and surge with electricity.

He used the weapon to herd Angelo out of the basement, who shouted in pain every time it hit him in the back or neck to get him moving. The other brothers couldn't stand hearing the smallest of them like that, and when he started crying desperately for anyone of them to help him? That shit hurt them the most. But what could they do?

" _Nardy, Ray! Telly, please! Gu-guys!_ " They could still hear Angelo's pleas above them, the sound going throughout the mansion and finally fading from hearing distance after five agonizing minutes.

When Master finally forced Angelo out of the basement and locked the hatch behind himself upon exiting, the other three boys allowed themselves to let their emotions go.

Tel was looking down in shame, knowing full and well that they couldn't have helped Angelo in any way, but still feeling guilty all the same. If they had been defiant and tried something bold, they would've just been sent to the shed with Angelo, and that didn't mean in any way that the punishments on either of them would be lesser. The only sensible thing they could do was wait for his return and hope the damage was manageable.

Ray was shouting, angry at anything and everything, but most importantly their Master, for taking away his brother. Knowing that Angelo was somewhere getting hurt right then, and he was stuck underground with no way of helping him, made him see nothing but red. He was hitting the concrete walls of the basement, then bringing his meaty fists down on his bricks in a large-scale temper tantrum. No one made any move to calm him down, knowing how dangerous it was to interrupt Ray's meltdowns. Not even when Ray's fists were bleeding everywhere and completely busted.

Lenn, however, had a fire burning in his eyes. Sure, right now there was nothing they could do, but maybe...maybe one day there'd be hope for a better future…

Lenn looked around the basement, seeing the various stages of emotion going through his brothers and the lack of their smallest brother's crazy bright energy. He had been _so damn happy_ before their Master had come in. Angie had been _laughing and smiling_ and just _enjoying the few things he got to have in life_ , and then that motherfucker just _crushed it all_. And they had been forced to just sit and helplessly watch.

"Guys? I have an idea and it sounds stupid, but hear me out..."


	4. Breakout Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: detsiwT
> 
> Summary: They've been raised underground, living their whole lives in the darkness. They know suffering and fear, just as well as they know how to kill. But what happens when a kid finds out his Uncle's secret in the basement? 2k3 dark turtles humanized AU. They will commit murder and do bad things, but this is their story of redemption. Not for the faint of heart.
> 
> Version/s: 2k3 (Dark Turtles)
> 
> Author: Nukas/bozanga (Omazun formerly)
> 
> Notes: Kind of shorter than the other chapters, but I've been writing bit-by-bit on this throughout the past week or two. Oh, Angelo isn't dead btw and Tel will use some words/slang from different cultures throughout this fic (bloody is one he uses a bit in this chapter) because of his love of books. Remember, they're still like children, so if he reads a book from Old English times or something from that grand library, chances are he's going to copy it and add it to his dictionary since he assumes it's normal.

_The Basement, 9:36 p.m._

It had been a whole week, at least to Tel's calculations, and Angelo still wasn't back from the shed. In the meantime between then and now, Ray had also gotten taken away. His tantrum had carried over into full-blow rage, causing him to lash out at Master the first chance he got. That was three days ago, so now Lenn and Tel were the only ones left. They did their chores as usual and Master continued to give them missions as normal and never once hinted towards their brothers in the slightest, a smug, ' _they were an example_ ' atmosphere surrounding their Master.

Needless to say, it was ticking off the last two boys in service.

"If he's this badly hurt-"

"Shut it, Tel. He's coming back and our plan _will_ go into effect and we'll escape this hell-hole. We have to have-"

"What? Hope?" Tel gave a humorless, bitter laugh, "Don't start spewing that sort of nonsense, Lenn. Be realistic."

"I _am_ ," Lenn hissed, his temper flaring, "I know we can escape. _All_ of us." Tel shot Lenn a seething glare.

"The chances of us successfully escaping are even lower than the chances of Angelo coming back, and that's saying a lot."

"You _fucking dick_ , I'll-"

" _You'll_ go do what you want," Tel rose his voice menacingly, taking command of the atmosphere in the basement, "while I'm getting Ray the first chance I can and booking."

"So you're just going to leave our smallest brother? Just forget Angelo completely?"

"No, I'll savage those that I can and keep what's left of us safe," Tel's response was dead-panned so well, that the untrained eye would think that he cut his losses that easily. On the contrary, Tel was burning with hatred towards their Master and guilt. Guilt because he was leaving his smallest brother behind, but it was a sacrifice he had to make. He'd rather get out with one or two (if Lenn decided to see the truth for what it was and came with him) of his brothers than not get out at all just to desperately try and save the third. He had to prioritize, be rational, be logical.

"He's not dead!" Lenn exploded, throwing his dagger that he was practicing with across the room. It landed centimeters away from Tel's head, which didn't even move or flinch in the slightest.

"Can you prove that? Are you _completely_ sure about that?"

"..."

"That's what I thought...I don't want to leave him either, Lenn."

"Then why are you even thinking about it, suggesting it, hell, _planning_ to do it?"

"Because one of us has to see the situation for what it is and do what has to be done."

* * *

_Dun Estate, 3:23 p.m._

"Tel, for fuck's sake _please_ -"

"Beg all you want, Lenn," Tel replied in monotone, having used the past two days of unnerving silence between them to mentally prepare himself for this day, "but I've made my decision."

They were on cleaning duty as of now, Master had gone on to a meeting of some sorts. He habitually tied his hair up into a ponytail with the filthy rubber band he found on Angelo's old mattress. It was a nice reminder of the bright boy for Tel; the bright boy that was also his brother. His brother, the bright boy, that he was going to leave behind.

"What about Ray? Think he won't have anything to tell you for leaving him behind?"

"I'll tell him I found him dead. Problem solved."

Lenn gaped for a moment. His mind was fucking _reeling_ right now. Tel had never been this cold, even before that night of verbal rebellion against their Master.

Tel rolled his amber eyes at Lenn's shocked expression, then leaned the mop against the counter and began stalking to the back of the mansion, the duffel bag he had _stolen_ from the kid's _room_ (Lenn nearly threw up from the _insanely_ bold action) and had filled with necessities and tools bumping up and down against his pencil-thin waist. He was going to the shed, he was getting Ray out, and he was leaving. Anyone who had any objections could stay here in this crappy place; he had no back-flipping fucks to give.

After a good three minutes or so of walking due to the mansions immersive size, Tel reached the back door. He froze for a moment. He only ever went out through this backdoor to be taken to the shed for punishment, which hasn't happened in so long. The PTSD-based emotions of fear only kept him still for so long though. He had bigger fish to fry and all that.

He slid the door open, for once acting on his _own_ with every action, every movement, being done on his own accord. No more orders, no more _caution_ ; Tel was beginning to feel the trembles in his muscles from the feeling of freedom and reckless abandon. His adrenaline was kicking in.

Tel wasted no time breaking the padlock on the large, industrial shed. It was more like a mini-warehouse, but that wasn't of the importance. He shoved the slick yet sharp metal hanger door open and made his way inside quickly. Lenn, who had just been standing back and watching the whole time, caught up to him. He sucked in a breath upon taking a large stride inside the building. It was so _dark_. So damn dark. And the walls outside were neat, sure, but inside? It was a pigsty.

The walls were covered in grime and filth and the floor was definitely no better. Old puke stains as well as old blood ones mixed together in terrifying patterns ingrained into the "diamond plated" metal floors. Various torture devices littered the room. In each corner of the room, was a thick metal pole rooted into the ground with a short metal chain attached to it with a collar on the open end. A bucket within arms reach of the chain and collar was also positioned in each of the four corners.

To the far left was a massive bulk slouched over.

"Ray? Ray," Tel started, no shame or concern in his step despite what he was currently feeling at the moment, "we're breaking you out."

"S-s-sh-sh…." Came the gruff voice, watery and lost. He sounded broken inside.

Lenn, watching Tel make his way over to help Ray, looked around to find Angelo. He noticed that the only collar occupied was the one around Ray's thick neck. No one else was there, however…

"N-no..." Lenn's voice crackled and popped at the sight of so much recent death blood, _artery blood_ , stains surrounding the chain and pole at the front right corner of the shed. Most likely, all that belonged to... _oh hell no_.

Tel crouched low in front of Ray, reaching out carefully. Tel's eyes were tender, oh so very tender and caring, which was one of the rarest gifts of all that someone could receive from the teen. He let his hand rest cooly on Ray's heavy shoulder.

"S-ssh-sh-shh-shh…"

"Ray, buddy," An even rarer gift; a pet name, "we have to leave."

"S-shh-shhou-shoouldn' come, sho-ouldn'..." Tel's ever-nonchalant face changed into one of concern and anger. So much damn anger. His brows furrowed and his lips tugged down ever-so-slightly.

"Well, I'm here," Tel had completely forgotten about the upset and mortified Lenn that was now wildly searching for even the slightest clue as to where Angelo could've gone, "now we have to go, Ray. We're going to be _free_."

The emphasis on _free_ caused Ray to finally look up. Yes, his body was beaten and bloody, yes, he looked broken, but nothing could prepare Tel for the look of pure terror and pain in Ray's eyes. Tel's anger finally rose to the surface and he growled, an unimaginable sound coming from the collected genius, and stood immediately. Ray's eyes widened and he made a _whimpering_ sound, cowering backward.

"I'm not mad at you, Ray. I'm getting you and _us_ out of this bloody place," Tel mumbled, placing his duffel on the ground and bending down to unzip it. He took out a hacksaw but frowned deeper as Ray jerked back even more so, hitting his sore back against the steel wall. This caused him to yell in even more pain and the sounds of Ray's distress broke Tel's already-broken-to-begin-with heart further.

"Ray," Lenn spoke up, the sound of his voice throaty from his horrific revelation, "relax. We won't hurt you, we just want to get you out." Tel flashed a look of slight annoyance at Lenn, but otherwise proceeded to begin grinding away at the chain, since the collar was too snug around Ray's neck. Ray was deathly stiff as Tel worked away at the metal but otherwise didn't move like he was told.

"This might take a while. Lenn, go keep lookout," Tel gave Lenn an acidic glare.

"That's because the one between us with the least amount of muscle mass is the one sawing," But Lenn could hold his own.

"I-"

"S-shh-shh-sh…." Ray seemed to be repeating (or trying to) _"shouldn't have come"_ to calm himself down. His mumbles cut Tel off before he could give a rebuttal, promptly making Tel direct his attention back to the task at hand; getting this dumb oaf out of here.

"Fine," Lenn mumbled walking out of the shed and patrolling outside, which was something they never got to do. In all of Tel's sudden rush to free Ray and the entire ordeal of it all, they hadn't taken much time to appreciate the sunlight they never got or the warm breeze they never felt. All they really knew was the cold and the dark.

Lenn got lost in his own head for a moment, enjoying the _fresh_ air and the sounds of birds and other creatures making noises and "songs". For about six minutes he just stood out there, "keeping watch", and Tel stayed inside, sawing away at the chain.

"Done," Tel finally announced flatly. Ray whimpered a bit and it took some coercing from Tel to get him to understand that it was _okay_ to stand up.

"We'll get out of here and patch you up later, Ray," Tel mumbled into the big guy's ear, supporting his weight the best he could while holding the heavy duffel bag in his free arm.

Lenn turned to his left where the two emerged out of the shed. He had heard what Tel said and shot him a look that clearly said, " _What about Angie?_ "

Tel shook his head, his expression perfectly explaining what it means for something to be "white-hot". The burning anger at the situation was rising up in heaps inside of Tel's heart, but his anger and care for everything was so great that it caused him to be cold, act carelessly. So he did.

Lenn growled but didn't say anything in fear of reminding Ray of Angelo. The three boys made their way silently out through their usual tunnel, as good as ninja because that's basically what they _were_ at this point because of their assassination jobs. Getting out, despite having done it multiple times before, was like taking a breath of air after being underwater for too long. The pretense that stood said that this would be their last time leaving that place because it'd be the last time they'd be there. The feeling of _freedom_ overwhelmed them as they began to walk across the bit of field that was behind the "marvelous" Dun estate. They made their way down the winding path of bare road that led to the inner-city. With each step Lenn and Tel took, they felt more powerful and _so much_ stronger, but the guilt also increased as well. Ray was so out of it from the pain and presumable blood loss (judging by his torn and blood-stained clothes), that he didn't realize they were missing one. Hell, the guy barely looked to have known where he was.

"C'mon, big guy, we're almost into the city. We can take care of you there," Lenn said softly, rubbing the small of Ray's back. He was whimpering and whining quite a lot, almost like a dog. His face was screwed with pain and his eyes were glossed over.

"We won't make it to the city," Tel huffed, readjusting half the weight of Ray and the duffel bag, "we have to duck into some type of hole in the wall or something so we can extract the tracking chips. Most likely _he_ knows we've left now, his phone probably alerted him...we have to do this now or within the next ten minutes." Lenn's eyes widened slightly. _Extracting_ the chips would mean so much pain. He and Tel could handle it, but Ray? In the condition that he's currently in?

"Don't worry, Lenn," Tel spoke up again, practically reading Lenn's mind, "I brought some painkillers from Master's infirmary. Enough to knock out an elephant; we'll put Ray under then take out his chip. He's almost down for the count anyways." Lenn looked up, grunting a little from the other half of Ray's weight that he was supporting, and frowned deeper. Tel was right; Ray wasn't even breathing correctly, let alone completely conscious.

"There then," Lenn pointed to an off-road dirt trail that led into a forest, "we'll go into the woods and take them out. You're right, we probably don't have much time."

It took a bit longer than it should've for them to be able to guide Ray into the forest, safely of course. The guy was stumbling everywhere and it was difficult to get him down certain steep drops in the terrain. Finding a little nook in the wall was harder than either of them had ever thought was possible, but eventually, their luck seemed to change for the better.

It was a shitty dent in the stone wall of the mossy mountain, yeah, but at least it was something. The two uninjured brothers shared a look of mutual agreement, something that hasn't been shared in such a long time between the two, and led their brother inside.

Anything inside this forest was better than anything they could run into along the main road.


End file.
